Your Blueprint to Complete Your Program

Every student comes to WGU Tennessee with different levels of competence and experience. Our goal is to take that into account to make your education as efficient as possible. One way we achieve that is through your personalized Degree Plan. Your Degree Plan serves as your blueprint where you can view all the requirements you need to complete in order to graduate. You set up your Degree Plan with the help of your Program Mentor, and can check back as often as you need. Your Degree Plan is available for viewing anytime through the WGU Student Portal.

How Your Degree Plan Works

For your program, the essential skills and knowledge that a highly competent graduate needs for career success have been carefully identified and selected.

Your Degree Plan "maps out" the learning resources and assessments you need in your program based on the skills you already have and those you need to develop. Here’s what your Degree Plan takes into account:

Term Enrollment

Term enrollment is the process of choosing courses and verifying that you are enrolled for the term of study. During term enrollment, you and your Program Mentor will map out which assessments you will complete and the timeframe in which you will do so by established start and end dates (explained below). Your Program Mentor will schedule at least the minimum number of competency units required for full-time enrollment (12 units for undergraduate students; 8 units for graduate students). Your On Time Progress (OTP; explained further below) is based on how you set term enrollment each term.

Start and End Dates

To help you plan your progress through the term and to set a study schedule and calendar, you will set start and end dates for each assessment in collaboration with your Program Mentor. With these dates you can plan your preparation and see how you can accelerate or where you may need to spend more time in getting ready to demonstrate competency in an assessment area.

Competency Units (CUs)

A competency unit is equivalent to one semester credit of learning. Some assessments may be assigned three competency units while other assessments may be as large as 12 competency units.

On Time Progress (OTP)

WGU requires that students make measurable progress toward the completion of their degree programs every term. We call this On Time Progress—denoting that you are on track and making progress toward on time graduation. As full-time students, graduate students must enroll in at least eight (8) competency units each term, and undergraduate students must enroll in at least twelve (12) competency units each term.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is particularly important for financial aid students because you must make SAP in order to maintain eligibility for financial aid. We will measure your SAP quantitatively by reviewing the number of competency units you have completed each term.